Factory in focus: Carlos Santos

We like to make a big deal out of the factories we use to make our shoes. We are proud to have such prestigious shoe makers turn our designs into reality.

There is no better place to start than with Carlos Santos.

Brief history of Carlos Santos

Aged just 14, a young Portuguese man named Carlos Santos started working at the office in Zarco’s shoes. This kicked off his passion for shoes. He would escape the office to the factory floor to study how shoes were made. It didn’t take him long to move up in the company.

Carlos He eventually he found himself in management, travelling to all of the best fashion shows he could get to. He would often purchase shoes he would never wear, with the intention of simply taking them apart back home to understand their construction. He had faith his artisan makers could reproduce these techniques, and he was right.

Eventually, the boy who started his shoe journey at just 14 years old became the sole owner of Zarco’s. Carlos Santos shoes were born.

In 2009, we first took notice of the brand and started to create some iconic designs with them. An impressive combination of supple leathers and the attention to detail on the stitching blew us away. We also liked that are all hand-finished. The end result is a spectacular pair of shoes that have a real bespoke look.

First Herring designs by Carlos Santos

The wholecut Herring Chaucer is still one of our best-selling styles to date. This is the shoe that kicked off our successful relationship with Carlos Santos.

From the ‘hand-grade‘ collection to our more modest ‘classic’ collection, they have proven to be extremely popular with our customers. They even make a few luxury trainer and sneaker styles for us, like the Herring Goodwood and Silverstone II.

Fancy a sneak peak into their factory? Herring Shoes’ MD Jason Simmonds followed a pair of our Herring Villiers around as they were being finished.

Do you have a favourite pair of shoes made by Carlos Santos? Let us know. We would love to hear your feedback. A photo of them being worn is always welcomed too, we may even post it on our socials.